Drinking after Driving

There may have been a delay from the time of the alleged offence to the arrest of someone suspected of drink driving.

The law provides for a presumption that a person’s alcohol level at the time of driving was not less than contained within a sample provided to the police. This means that, more often than not, it will be necessary to prove that you were under the limit at the time of driving. A forensic report will therefore be required to support such an argument.

In such cases, the onus is on the defendant to prove that they were under the limit which can be difficult to do. Therefore the “hip flask” defence, as it is commonly referred to, should only be used if the police are able to establish that they followed the correct procedure for obtaining specimens and that the alcohol reading itself was accurate.